As the nation prepares for temperatures of up to 30* this weekend horse racing legend Jim Dreaper has warned people to be wary of where they place mirrors or glass objects in their house after his own home nearly burned down four years ago.
The Grand National and Gold Cup winning trainer revealed how only prompt action by his wife Patricia averted a disaster on a scorching hot day.
He said, ‘ It’ll be four years go next week I’ll never forget it, the 19th of July 2018 was the day we came close to losing everything.
‘It was a blazing hot day and unusually for a family steeped in racing we were all at home around five in the evening and sitting in the garden relaxing, normally we’d be at a race meeting somewhere but thankfully that day we weren’t.
‘Patricia spotted smoke coming from the window of the upstairs bathroom and when we ran in to see what was happening the lace curtains on the window were on fire and the blaze was starting to spread.
‘Initially, we managed to get it under control but to be on the safe side we called the fire brigade and what they told us shocked me to the core.
‘They said that what had happened was that a mirror in the bathroom had been caught in the direct sunlight and that the heat reflecting from that had set the curtains on fire, they left us in little doubt that had we not been there and spotted it we might not have had a house to come home to.
‘It seems leaving clear glass exposed to direct sunlight is a massive fire hazard and generally, the problem arises with south-facing windows as that is where the sun blares through for most of the day.
‘If you can, make sure to move any glass objects like mirrors and bottles out of the way then do if not then pull the curtains even though that seems an odd thing to do it is the safest thing to do.
‘We were blessed lucky others might not fare so well.’
